Joseph Wash, suspect in Moss Point murder case, dies after hanging himself in April

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Jackson County Coroner Vicki Broadus has confirmed that murder suspect Joseph Dwayne "Bodee" Wash has died from injuries sustained after attempting to hang himself in his jail cell in April.

Wash had remained in a vegetative state since the April 4 suicide attempt, when officers at the Jackson County Adult Detention Center found him hanging by a rolled up blanket tied to a window bar.

Broadus said the official cause of death is "death by hanging."

Wash's identity was not released at the the time of the incident, with Sheriff Charles Britt citing federal privacy laws.

Wash, 34, was facing a 2nd-degree murder charge and a felony gun charge from an Oct. 12, 2013 incident in which Joseph Denell White was fatally shot. After the hanging, the case was sent to the inactive files.

At the time of the shooting, Pascagoula police said White was killed after pulling a gun on Wash's handicapped son. Joshua Liddell, Wash's cousin, was also arrested for the shooting.

Wash was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Jackson on Oct. 16. He had been released from prison earlier in 2013 after spending 12 years in jail for a manslaughter conviction.